J Servai (JLAPT) : Wait and See ...

102468020 :

A Humble Mooer : banks have a very poor track record under lower regulation.
the race to outperform in banking creates perverse incentives and offloading responsibilities under "too big to fail" conditions.
I'm taking a wait and see approach.

103774197 : Election day is November 5th, VOO closing price is 530.1, it only increased by 2.89% to 538.94 by December 19th. How is your S&P 500 increase of over 6% calculated?

kyneo :

STD0313 : Corporate buy backs should be made illegal. It allows companies to sure up EPS numbers before an earnings by simply changing the size of the pie. It also implies that a company feels their stock is undervalued, why else would they buy? The problem here is that most companies are not good judges of what is undervalued and what isn't.
Also as briefly noted in this article dividends have continued to slide as companies put more of their earnings into buy backs instead of direct profit sharing through cash distribution.
Corporate tax cuts have not gone to help pay for Corporate expenses like payroll and benefits for employees. Instead most companies have used those savings for buying back shares to resell at a higher price later down the road.
Buy backs are simply another way to divert earnings and keep profits in house.
Simply put, the precieved benefit is just that, a smoke show. A perception that the company is doing well and providing benefits for shareholders. When in fact buy backs are a clear cut way to make a sinking ship look far more stable than what it is.